Blessed are they who stand before the Dark
by Chaotic8Bit
Summary: The last thing Fenris remembers, he was with Hawke, keeping their heads low after Kirkwall. Suddenly, he is waking up to the sky exploding, Hawke missing, a monster thought dead, and an organization in need of a leader; all of it is connected to the strange mark now on his hand. Of course it had to be magic.. An Inquisitor-Fenris AU


At first, there was a blinding green light, burning through his eyelids. The smell of ash, and something he couldn't place as he came to his senses. His whole body ached, the lyrium markings ablaze with pain. It was reminiscent of days when Danarius would take his twisted frustrations and desires out upon him. How long ago were those days?... Fenris opened his eyes to a landscape beyond imagination. Rocks, floating like clouds in the sky, staircases winding in ways no mortal could possibly walk. Candles, as if perched on a table, floating still above the ground.

"what in..." he began, before a pattering noise behind him had him reaching for his weapon, but his sword was nowhere in sight.

Large, hairy spiders in droves, heading straight for him, far too many for him to take on even if he were armed. As he was now, his only option was to flee and look for a weapon or a defend-able location.

Fenris fled, sprinting across the foreign landscape, but survival first, he didn't have the time to take in his surroundings! Soon, his direction became clear, on a large hill off in the distance, he could almost make out the figure of a woman trying to wave him down, her silhouette looking very much like the clothing of a woman of the Chantry. There might be safety beyond her!

With every step, the spiders gained on him, the woman reaching out, and only now he realizes that she appears to be made of light, not being silhouetted by it. He can almost feel the fangs at his feet, he is almost there, he reaches out to grab her hand and...

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Fenris slowly comes to. He is now in a prison cell, his hands bound infront of him. Maker, its been awhile since his body has hurt this much. Was it a dream? That place..the monsters.. the woman? Why is he bound in this cell? Where is- His thoughts are cut off suddenly as his hand begins to glow green, it's agony, he can do little to stop himself from crying out in pain.

The door slams open, and two women storm in. The one in the lead is serious and firm, and Fenris can tell with just a look that he doesnt want to fight with this woman. He feels no less threatened by the second woman, who stands by a ways off, her cloak hiding her expression. Both are wearing the symbol of the seekers...The Seekers?! _They found us, they caught up_ Fenris is on high alert. He needs to get out of these chains, he needs to find Hawke!

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now" The fighter growls out lowly... "The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for you" 'Conclave? What the hell?' She reaches out and grabs his arm, his hand shoots out the green light and pain, almost in response. "Explain. This." He hesitates.. "I...I can't" "What do you mean you can't!" "I don't know what that is, or how it got there." He grits out. He is being interrogated. They believe he is responsible for this Conclave being destroyed? Or it's a lie, attempting to draw information out of him.. perhaps Hawke escaped their grasp and they only captured him?

"Your Lying!" She snarled out, clearly enraged by his lack of answer. She lunges forward; Fenris braces for a more physical interrogation to begin, when the other woman moves forward swiftly and stops the attack. "We need him, Cassandra" she states levely. This one turns around and stares straight into Fenris eyes. "Do you remember what happened? How this began?" Fenris grimaces "I remember...running. Things were chasing me, and then... a woman?" "A woman?" "She reached out to me, but then.." Its no use... Fenris can't remember how he ended up in that place, or what happened after he had reached that woman...

"Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take him to the Rift" Cassandra orders, having regained her composure. Leliana nods and takes her leave. Cassandra approaches and begins to unchain Fenris from the floor. "What emdid/em happen?" He risks asking. She hesitates as she pulls him to his feet, hands still bound. "It will be easier to show you."

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The sight that awaited Fenris outside struck him speechless. There was a gaping hole in the sky, glowing the same magical green as the mark on his hand. Chunks of the mountain defying gravity, held within the column of energy pouring out. All the clouds rippled in towards the hole, as if the mortal world were being sucked through. "We call it: The Breach. It is a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour." She turns to him from the view. "It is not the only such rift, just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave." _Only magic could be capable of such a feat._ Fenris thought bitterly to himself. Cassandra continued "If we do not act, the Breach may grow until it swallows the world."

At that moment, a pulse of energy surged out the Breach, and Fenris doubled over immediately in pain. Cassandra kneeled in front of him "Each time the Breach expands, the mark on your hand spreads... It is killing you" "heh, magic killing me? now that's new" Fenris replied dryly, to which Cassandra furrowed her brow for a moment. "The Mark on your hand may be the key to stopping this, but we don't have much time" _Blast your bleeding heart and how it's rubbed off on me Hawke!_ He steadies himself, the pain already dulling, and meets Cassandra's hard gaze. "Lead the way"

Walking through the tattered camp was like walking to his execution. The people surrounding him not even attempting to disguise their desire for blood. Cassandra is just ahead of him, justifying their behavior. The grief of losing the Divine, the loss of all the people at the Conclave. Fenris is a well armed and defended elf, who has walked freely amongst them with his head high, he is more than accustomed to the condemnation and thinly veiled hatred, he doesn't even focus on it. His head is reeling, so much is happening so fast. He and Hawke hadn't been anywhere near the Frostback Mountains, and yet that is where Fenris now stands, amidst an event larger and more foreign than the Blight itself. How did he get here, how did he get involved, where is Hawke? Why can't he remember?! Fenris clenches his fists. After Danarius's death, Fenris had begun to feel a sense of safety, a chance to live his own life. So why does he feel like someone has once again reached inside him and took what they wanted. His memories, lost again. Fenris doesn't even want to imagine what could have been done to him within his memory gap. Or what he could have done, had they used him as Danarius once had. He had to pull away from this path of thought right now-

"-It was a chance to bring peace between the mages and templars. She brought their leaders together. Now they are all dead"

Well. Shit. So now he was right smack in the middle of the Mage-Templar war he had spent that last several months keeping Hawke, _and his damned selfless martyr complex_ away from. Cassandra ends her preaching by pulling a dagger out and beginning to cut his hands free. "I can promise you a trial. No more." Before leading them across the bridge, ordering the soldiers to allow them passage. They make it to the next bridge, only stopping once when another Breach Pulse sends Fenris to the ground momentarily. Across the bridge, however, they are assaulted by demons almost instantly. "Stay back" Cassandra orders as she engages the first demon to spawn, failing to notice the second one heading straight for Fenris. He scans his surroundings and spots a few dead soldiers a way off, the demons previous victims most likely. He quickly ducks the first swipe and sprints over to the fallen, grabbing a solid broadsword just in time to throw it up in defense. He makes quick work of the lone demon, spinning around to aid Cassandra if need be, only to find her sword aimed at him. "Drop the weapon. Now." Fenris growled "A Demon attacked me, would you prefer I let it kill me?" "You don't need to fight" "Because you did such a fine job of protecting me" She glared, but it was clear that Fenris had the upper hand in the argument. He was not walking through a battlefield unarmed, trusting a complete stranger, one whom had been keen on beating him for information only minutes ago; to protect him. " _sighs_ Your right.." As she sheaths her blade. "I cannot protect you, and I cannot expect you to be defenseless...I..should remember you came willingly.

The trip continues from there. Cassandra is more than adept with her blade, the demons along the path are no match for them both. As they reached the plateau, the sounds of battle grew. "We are almost at one of the rifts, you can hear the fighting" Cassandra warns. Turning the corner, they are faced with several demons and a smaller version of the hole in the sky, floating just above them, the source of the demons. Fenris and Cassandra enter the battle immediately. A demon to his side is taken down by..arrows.. not quite.. but before Fenris can turn to source, an elf with a staff is running forward and grabbing Fenris's hand and directed the mark up at the rift. "Quickly! Before more come through!" he shouts. Fenris feels his lyrium tattoo's spring to life, all energy flowing to his hand, a burst of energy shooting out like lightning. It strikes the rift and it feels like a power struggle, like he is attempting to overpower someone or something else. He succeeds a moment later, and the rift explodes into nothing. Fenris promptly rips his hand out of the apostates hand and reels on him "What did you do!" The man calmly responds "I did nothing, the credit is yours." After a pause, the elf continued "Whatever created the Breach also created the mark on your hand, I merely theorized that the mark may be able to close the rifts. It seems I was correct." Cassandra joined in "Could it close the Breach itself?" "Possibly, you may hold to key to our salvation"

"Well that's good to know, I was beginning to think we would be ass-deep in demons forever" A far too familiar voice cuts in, the bolts source confirmed. Fenris turns to Varric with a relieved smile, which Varric reads as perfectly as a verbal hello" "This isn't my idea of a good reunion Broody, what the hell is going on?" "I-" Cassandra bursts in "Dwarf! You know him?!" Varric chuckled before throwing her a shrug "Well, Seeker, maybe I could have told you that, had you not had your men eject me from your camp as soon as the world went to hell and you decided you were done interrogating me" Cassandra made a noise of disgust, clearly her patience with Varric running thin already. Fenris interjects before the fight could continue "I don't remember how I got here, or how this happened. Have you seen Hawke?" The dwarf frowned instantly. "No, I haven't seen him, nor spoke to either of you in some time, the less I knew about your whereabouts, the less I could give away under torture."

Cassandra tensed instantly, the implications heavy in the air. "We.." She faltered "We were not pursuing Hawke to punish him for the events of Kirkwall, we were not going to kill him" "Right, and we were supposed to take your word for it. Pretty sure you lot also tried to defend Meredith's actions, so I apologize if I have trouble trusting your stance on the matter." Varric replied smoothly, never letting his anger show through the cocky facade. Fenris found himself more grateful for the dwarfs friendship than ever before, he wouldn't have betrayed them to the Templars, even under torture. If Fenris could tell his old self in slavery that he would one day have people this loyal in his life, he would have laughed himself to death at such a notion. "We... are getting off track. What matters right now is the Breach, we must find a way to close it. Quickly" Cassandra had calmed herself and was now back to focusing at the task at hand. "We must find Leliana" "Excellent Idea" Varric drawled, while walking up to Fenris side. "Absolutely not, thank you for your assistance..Varric..but you must-" "Have you taken a look into the valley Seeker? Your soldiers are on the run, your not in control anymore, you need all the help you can get. You want me to come, right Broody?" Fenris nodded "I would be relieved to have a familiar face on the battlefield." Cassandra once again made a noise of disgust and stormed off towards the valley. Varric grinned and threw a wink at Fenris before reloading his crossbow and starting after her. "I am Solas, it appears as I am the only one in need of introduction, I am glad you yet live" Fenris nodded, unsure of how to respond to that statement. Thankfully, Solas required no further conversation, and they set off, the four of them now, continuing towards the Breach.

They encountered several more clusters of demons, and one more fade rift before entering the forward camp. They dispatched this rift much the same as the last one, and Fenris could almost say he was adapting to the sensation of the mark on his hand already. "Whatever the thing on your hand is Broody, its damn useful." As they approach the table on the bridge, Fenris can tell with one look that the Chancellor standing at that table is going to be a pig headed noble. Its clear as day from his body language alone, and confirmed when he opens his mouth. "I know who this is. As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this man to Val Royeaux for immediate execution." Before Fenris can start to retaliate, Cassandra is surging forward "Order me? You are a glorified clerk! A bureaucrat!" "And you are a thug, but one who supposedly serves the Chantry." "We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor, as you well know" Leliana interjected. "Justinia is dead! We must focus on electing a new Divine, and following her orders!" _Of course, they want to focus on Chantry bureaucracy right now, instead of the demons and the hole in the sky._ Fenris fumed. "The Breach in the sky isn't going to wait for you all to squabble over who is in charge, if we waste anymore time, there may not be a world left for your Divine" Fenris spat out. Cassandra nodded at him before returning her glare at the chancellor. "It is not too late to stop this" "There is no way you will reach the temple, even with all your soldiers" "Perhaps not if we do the direct route, but our forces could act as a distraction while we go through the mountains" Leliana pointed towards the mountain range in the distance." Cassandra shook her head in response. "It will take longer, We also lost contact with the squads on the path. It's too risky." "I am ordering you to stand down and retreat!" Another Pulse hit, bigger than the last one. Fenris is braced for it this time though, and manages to remain standing and stifles the cry of pain through gritted teeth. Cassandra thinks for a moment then approaches. "How do you think we should proceed?" Fenris raises an eyebrow."Your asking my opinion now?" "You are the one who can end this, getting you there is all that matters". Fenris considers for a moment..the pros and cons of the two paths.."Lets take the direct route through the valley. I won't survive long enough for a trial at this rate."

The moment the enter the valley, they are in battle, fighting their way to another rift. Fenris would regret his choice, if it was not for all the people fleeing to the safety behind them. It's not just soldiers in this valley, there are farmers, women and children. He wouldn't have hesitated in his choice at all had he known there were unarmed civilians in the valley. He meets Varric's eyes and Varric nods in understanding. All they can do is protect as many as they can. "Seeker Cassandra" another familiar voice... Fenris and Varric look up to see none other than Knight-Captain Cullen. "This is the last of the civilians to evacuate out of the valley. I see you found a way to close the rifts? Well Done" Cassandra shook her head "This was not my doing Commander, this was the Prisoners". Cullen looked past Cassandra and, damn, Fenris wished Hawke were here to see the look on the former Knight Captains face right now."F-Fenris.." Cullen stammered out, before putting a hand to his face. "Why...don't tell me He's here as well?" Its very telling that Cullen looks like he has a headache coming on just from the implication he has to deal with Hawke again, Fenris would find it more humorous if it wasn't for the fact that he knows well how much trouble they gave Cullen back in Kirkwall. Cassandra frowned "You know the prisoner as well? You..never mind, we don't have the time for an explanation. Continue to hold this position Commander. Do not let anything through" "The path has been cleared to the best of our ability. Leliana and her people are going to try and meet you at the temple. May the Maker watch over you..for all our sakes."

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The Breach had already looked huge from a distance, but standing beneath it, looking up at the hole in the sky, its massive, and so much larger than Fenris feels he can fix. Not for the first time today, he wished Hawke were here at his side, He would probably say something sarcastic like _well, isn't that wonderful_ or _I've seen bigger..maybe_. Garrett Hawke has always had a gift for making things feel more possible. Fenris could use a bit of that right now. He's brought out of his thoughts by Varric slapping him firmly on the back. "We will find him Broody. After we get this sorted out." "I know we will."

"-No, this rift is the first and it is the key, seal it, and we may seal the Breach" Solas stated as they began their descent into the pit created by the explosion. The remnants of the Temple of Sacred Ashes all around them. Clusters of Red Lyrium sprouting up from the ground like spires, much to Varric's horror and dismay. Suddenly, a disembodied voice thundered through the ruins. "Hold the Sacrifice still" Its deep, and malicious, followed immediately by "Please! Someone help me!" Cassandra gasps behind Fenris "That voice.. Divine Justinia?" " **NO, Stop it!** " Fenris voice echoes through the room, but it didn't come from his mouth. Not right now anyways. "You" Cassandra storms up to him "You were there...with Divine Justinia in her last moments..who was that..Why are we hearing this!?" "I don't know! I don't remember any of this!" Fenris grits out. "Somebody hear me! Somebody warn them!" Justinia is screaming into the void " **No! Let me Go! Stop This**!" Fenris's other voice snarls. "Restrain the Conduit, he must not break free." "These are echoes of what happened here. The Fade is bleeding into this place." Solas provides as he studies the Rift in front of them. "This rift is not sealed, but it is closed, albeit temporarily. I believe that you should be able to use the mark to open the rift and then seal it properly." He looks back at the rift briefly. "However, opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side." Cassandra swings around to the small grouping of soldiers that have accompanied them here. "That means demons! Stand Ready!" When the soldiers are in position, Cassandra turns and nods at Fenris to begin. He focuses the energy in his hand, and raises it to face the rift, immediately the connection occurs, but instead of shutting it, it feels like he is trying to rip a door off its hinges. Then, the rift explodes open and multiple demons immediately pour out, including what appears to be an Ogre..no..a Pride Demon! An upper level Demon emJust great.../em And the battle ensues. The Pride Demon is somehow connected to the Rift itself, forcing Fenris to stop fighting and use his mark on the rift in order to ever the connection. Several soldiers fall in the bloodbath but the finally overpower it and it falls. "Seal the Rift now! Before more come through!" Fenris runs forward and activates the Mark, and the moment he does, he is hit with the sheer energy of what created it. Fenris..isn't strong enough to close this! He feels like its sucking all his energy, his lyrium, his soul out! Just as it almost feels like he's about to be extinguished like a flame, a surge of blue magic flows through him from somewhere deep within and its just enough for him to feel the Rift exploding...and Fenris feels himself falling...falling... and as his eyes close, one last word passes through his mind.

 **Conduit**


End file.
